Played to Death

Scott Drayco Mystery #1

by B.V. Lawson

A Shamus Award Finalist and Named Best Mystery in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards

Still suffering nightmares from a case that ended tragically, brilliant freelance crime consultant Scott Drayco considers retiring from crime solving altogether. When a former client bequeaths Drayco a rundown Opera House in a Virginia seaside town, he figures he'll arrange for a quick sale of the place while nursing his battered soul in a peaceful setting near the shore.

What he doesn't count on is finding a dead body on the Opera House stage with a mysterious "G" carved into the man's chest. With hopes for a quick sale dashed and himself a suspect in the murder, Drayco digs into very old and very dangerous secrets to solve the crime and clear his name. Along the way, Drayco must dodge a wary sheriff, hostility over coastal development, and the seductive wife of a town councilman - before the tensions explode into more violence and he becomes the next victim.

Want to read a Scott Drayco novella for FREE? Sign up for BV’s Mysteries in Crimetime newsletter at bvlawson.com and receive a FREE copy of "The Maltese Moon Rock"!

Scott Drayco Thrillers in order:

PLAYED TO DEATH (A Shamus Award Finalist and Best Mystery, Next Generation Book Awards)
REQUIEM FOR INNOCENCE
DIES IRAE
ELEGY IN SCARLET

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Amazon, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Thriller, Ebooks

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 10, 2014

About the author

Thanks for visiting my profile! I'm an author of crime fiction, including the Scott Drayco mystery series, which has been honored by the American Independent Writers, Maryland Writers Association, named Best Mystery in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and been a finalist for the Shamus Awards, the Silver Falchion, the Daphne Awards, the Foreword Book Review Awards, and the Kindle Book Awards. Library Journal said of the series, "worth putting on your reading list," and I hope you'll think so, too.

Reviews

[Tulay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book

Scott Drayco is in small town in Cape Unity to check out the old opera house he inherited. He started his own PI business after leaving FBI, also loves to play piano. Small town looking for development, some residents for it. Murders, small town gossip, missing box from the opera house. Unpublished Chopin manuscript, and story behind it. Humorously written good story.

[Tristram Shandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don’t Shoot the Piano Player

Before Scott Drayco became a private investigator, or a so-called crime guru, he was a promising pianist, and so it was quite befitting for one of his former clients to bequeath an old opera house which has long since fallen out of use to Drayco. As chance – and the premise of the novel – will have it, this old opera house, which Drayco wants to inspect before going on a holiday, much needed after a traumatic experience resulting from the last case he took over, is also the meeting point suggested to Drayco by a potential new employer of his. Unfortunately, when Drayco arrives on the scene, the man he wanted to meet is dead, shot in the head, thus turning the opera house into a crime scene, and the letter G that has been cut into the corpse’s breast intrigues Drayco to such a degree that he decides to postpone his holiday and look into the murder mystery. However, the investigator is also intrigued by Darcie Squier, the wife of one of the possible suspects, a councilman of the little coastal town named Cape Unity where all this is taking place.

Very soon, Drayco is entangled in a web of smalltown gossip, Darcie’s alluring advances, murder threats against himself, the sad story of a Polish pianist who gave her last concert in his opera house, and the yarn spun by his own curiosity.

Played to Death by B.V. Lawson is the first of several Scott Drayco mysteries, and all in all, it kept me interested in the murder case although there were some chapters, for example one about a supposed murder victim, that could have been generously edited without damage to the story. The writing is lively and good, even though Lawson could make sure she uses the past perfect whenever she refers to things that happened before other things, as her failure to do so left me disoriented from time to time. She also inclines to the bad habit of having her protagonist find documents and read them without telling us about their contents so that we are unfairly left at an information disadvantage. Last not least, I wonder why they call Scott Drayco a crime guru because he did not do a lot of particular deductive work over the case of the murdered client in the opera house. Saying that, one has to admit, however, that he solves a poisoning case en passant by just looking at the books of the murder victim.

All in all, Played to Death is an entertaining whodunnit, whose protagonist has all the idiosyncrasies and goes through all the psychological crises which seem to be conditiones sine quibus non for modern mystery protagonists, but who still does not quite resonate with me.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in a series featuring Scott Drayco, a private investigator with an intriguing background as a concert pianist and FBI agent. Drayco is bequeathed an old opera house by a client but when he travels to Cape Unity to see it, he finds a dead body on the stage.

Considering this was a freebie from BookBub, I’m pleasantly surprised and pleased to have found a new series to read. The plot itself is interesting and reasonably complex, with several suspects to ruminate over and plenty of red herrings and subtle clues to keep you thinking. I guessed some of the outcome but not the finer details. Drayco has an interesting back story and I enjoyed the many musical references. I’ll definitely be looking for the next in this series.

[There is one sentence I found rather odd: - This was Norfolk, Virginia not Suffolk, England. Why not Norfolk, England? Just saying!]

[Paul Lima · Rating 1 out of 5]

A PI inherits an old, unused opera house in a small town. He goes there to meet a client. When he gets there the client is dead -- murdered. The PI stays in the town to solve the murder. A few days later, the client's wife is murdered. Sounds intriguing, no? No. Was quite boring. The PI talks to a lot of people; a lot of people are suspect. But I'm really not sure why. All the characters are two-dimensional and the conversation is wooden. There is serious flirtation with the wife of a town councillor that is as hot as a cold plate of spaghetti, and goes nowhere. By time we get to the reveal I was barely scanning the pages to get through the book. Not my cuppa, and I like a good murder mystery. This did nothing for me.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4
I downloaded this awhile ago for free as the first in a series and it took me awhile to start it but once I did- I was pretty hooked. The mystery took place as Scott (former FBI now a private detective of sorts) was gifted an Opera House outside of Washington DC. He can’t decide if he wants to sell or it remodel it and as the mystery unfolds- his opera house is at the center. The books has a really interesting cast of characters that I look forward to learning about and seeing how the story develops. I love when a free book is a good book. There are a few missing periods and Scott has a disorder where he sees and hears colors with voices and sounds but it didn’t really play well or into the story-Besides that one tiny gripe- I really enjoyed it and it kept me guessing till the end. I also really liked the bits and pieces of historical information about the musicians and certain musical pieces.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written novel with a strong plot line, numerous red herrings & a surprise ending I didn't see coming. I do feel it could have done with a bit more tight editing as it was wordy at times. A leisurely read in front of a warm fire with coffee as opposed to a page turning thriller. Thoroughly enjoyed it & look forward to more adventures featuring Scott Drako.

[Tony Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Drayco (crime consultant/former FBI & classical pianist, Ph.D. in criminology, NCAVC) something he did not plan on was being left a run-down Opera House at Cape Unity (Chesapeake Bay) by a former client Horatio Rockingham.

Scott was staying at the Lazy Crab.

Sheriff Ernest Hemingway Sailor came to investigate the body lying on the stage.

Nanette Keys (wife, SW) identified the body of Oakley Keys (wood craftsman, “G”).

Oakley had hired Scott to investigate Eastern Shore development & other things pertaining to the property (Gallinger Company).

What were Nanette Keys & Earl Yaegle up to?

What was Oakley Keys & Darcie Squier up to?

Will Sheriff Ernest Hemingway Sailor & his team solve the mysterious crimes/murders?

I was once a child/teen prodigy concert pianist (Conservatory of Music, KC).

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written CSI mystery book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences, There were several typo errors (word spacing). Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & lots/lots of unique characters to keep track of. 1 you must read to the very end. This could also make great CSI mystery movie, or mini TV series. Kind of humorous. A very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free book (Goodreads, Story Cartel)
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

[6r3g6 th4uv3tt3 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could give the book 3 stars, but 2-2.5 is probably fair. I liked the book enough, but the story was really underdeveloped. You don't really know why things are happening, they just are, or who the characters are, and what their role is in the story. It just never really gets going either. The story that is. There's enough there that you want to know, but the more you keep turning the pages, the less your inquisitiveness is fulfilled.

I'm not sorry that I read the book, I just don't know that I would recommend it to someone else.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't finish book. It is free from Amazon for the kindle. Says it was a prize winner. Oh well. I have books I want to read.
I did live in Washington D.C. for a number of years, so I was sure I would like the setting of nearby ocean town at least. Nope.

[Les Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book but did nothing for me.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Shamus Award Finalist and Best Mystery, Next Generation Book Awards

Drayco plans to meet a prospective client at his Opera House, only to find his client dead.

What I liked:

*Interesting small town characters.

*No bodies of women tortured.

*Nice plot line focused mainly on solving the murder(s).

Played to Death is the first in a series, and I plan to continue reading. I'm a little tired of "thrillers" in which the thrill involves tortured and murdered women. I don't mind one every once in a while, but it seems more and more have less mystery and investigation and more horrific cases. Anyway, I did enjoy this book and the characters.

Mystery/PI. 2014. Print length: 314 pages.

[Scot · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one just didn't work for me. I was reminded of the Mary Katherine Gallagher character Molly Shannon used to do on SNL, jumping up and down, so over eager, "look what I can do, look what I can do," then falling and flailing miserably. This author is trying way too hard, and a bit pretentious, spewing purple prose but always in the wrong shade.

More specifically characters were two dimensional, but for the main character, Scott Drayco, who was unbelievable as a person. 6'4", a piano prodigy stunning them at Carnegie Hall at 14, then at the FBI he was encouraged to try to run the whole thing before he retired to his current P.I. gig, with clients sometimes giving him cars or homes. Yeah, right. The plot wanders around, with so many references to profound earlier cases he had I thought I must be reading book six or seven in the series, not the initial one.

I wanted to like this book, set on the Chesapeake Eastern Shore, where he has inherited a claptrap Opera House in a tourist town on the skids, but the author had an irritating addiction to employing poorly constructed similes, often cliche, sometimes repeated three times within ten pages (!), and usually imprecise or off tone of intended mood. Drayco has some unusual ability to see the colors of what people say, but this is only used randomly and for no apparent purpose--so why have it at all? The effete descriptions of architecture and people's outfits also do not give Drayco a very macho vibe, and his odd romantic attraction to the obvious golddigger is not like Mickey Spillane with a hot dame, it comes across at that point more like Howard Sprague.

If you are looking for a cozy cozy series to begin, or a new gumshoe to identify with as you enjoy reading, I would recommend looking elsewhere, Still, the book seems to get a lot of "likes" so maybe my concerns don't bother some people. If I was the author's writing teacher, though, I would say work on precision in language, character development, and controlling plot flow and mood, and consider this a rough draft.

[Black Butterfly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’VE READ ONE OTHER BOOK IN THE DRAYCO MYSTERY SERIES, I LIKED THEM BUT THEY ARE SO SLOW AND BORING. I WISH THEY WEREN’T BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE REALLY ENJOYED THEM MORE. THE DRAGGING STORYLINE MADE IT HARD FOR ME TO STAY INTERESTED, I KEPT FINDING OTHER THINGS TO DO INSTEAD OF READING. IT WAS WAY TOO LONGGGG, SO MANY UNECESSARY THINGS I REALLY DIDN’T NEED TO KNOW, INSTEAD OF BEING HELPFUL IT JUST BOGGED THE STORY DOWN. ;\

[Ted Tayler · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Cleverly done, but didn't excite me"

There was so much to like in this first book of the series. Well developed characters, a tightly woven plot with helpful and unhelpful clues scattered here and there, and the descriptive language at time was sumptuous. Somehow though, I couldn't engage with the book 100%; it all seemed to take so long to get to the crux of the matter.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this story made me feel as if I had known the characters for a long while. It is a good mystery - not one that I could figure out ahead of time - but it could benefit from some proofreading. The character of Darcie is not believable and takes away from the book but the other characters were well developed.

[Roxx Tarantini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Drayco is a concert pianist. Or he was. He turned to detecting after his career as a pianist was brutally ended.

Now, after a case that still haunts him, he's hoping for a respite, and the inheriting of a run-down Opera House by the Virginia seaside seems like just the ticket. Until on a routine tour of his new property, he discovers a dead body.

As the "new guy" in town, suspicion falls squarely on his shoulders, with a Sheriff who is in no hurry to look for other possibilities.

Played to Death plays to my love of a good "starting over" story. In Scott Drayco, Lawson has created an amiable, affable sleuth that draws your sympathy, and invests you in his story.

A good plot line with good characters combine here to make Played to Death a page-turner that will keep you reading till its conclusion. Lawson litters the narrative with enough twists that this arm-chair sleuth had no clue till the reveal, but it was a fitting ending.

A solid read I'm sure you'll enjoy!

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading about PI-this author really captured the main character while he is in a small town with an inherited opera house...a GOOD read

[Gaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a 4.5 stars for me. The writting was very good and the story kept me to my toes. I really couldn't guess who the killer was till the very end.

I will definetely read the next book.

[Suzan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Serviceable novel, ending marred by improbabilities of timing--given the background, why NOW for these murders? A good scattering of clues amongst the multiple red herrings, but no real explanation of why it all erupts just as Draco appears. Readable, though the prose veers towards purple on occasion.

[Richard Copeland · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mixed bag in that it showed promise but ended up not really delivering. In the end it meandered to a conclusion but the path was certainly confused. There were too many unbelievable and/or stereotypical characters combined with some pretty bizarre writing.

Drayco has synesthesia so we get this: "Drayco was hating the color of Squier's voice even more. Worm-shaped blobs joined the burnt-caramel color, alongside the texture of razor tips." Really?

Awkward similes such as 'Squier laughed like a terrier baying at a snake' are just jarring and I have never heard a terrier bay ... yap, maybe. Another example is 'The vein in Squier's neck throbbed like a purple spaghetti eel thrashing in a net.' If this was a horror story, maybe but this just doesn't work. Also, 'Squier's face was the color of framboise.' These all strike the reader as forced and a good editor would have sent all of this back to the author to be reworked.

Characters roll objects around in their hands more than once but how does one roll a pencil in one case, and a salt shaker in another, around in one's hand?

All too often scenario's play out that seem to have little purpose in the plot and seem contrived. Much of the Darcie character's 'performance' fits that description and perhaps the most egregious instance is the coyote-wolf hybrid attack on Drayco which just doesn't fit other than as a rather clumsy attempt to develop a different side of his character.

I have an unfortunate impulse to finish a book once I've started it. In this case, I wish I hadn't. Given that there are so many better authors in this genre, I cannot recommend this book.

[BRT · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing mystery involving a former pianist turned FBI agent turned detective. He heads into a small coastal town to see an aging opera house left to him by a former client and becomes embroiled in a deadly mix of love, history, desire, and greed. Lots of suspects, almost too many to be believable, and a twisting path to the murderer make this one to keep reading until you decipher the clues. A friend found this a "plodding" plot. While there are some scenes that could be considered unnecessary, for the most part, each scene moved the story to it's conclusion. For a first in the series, I found this to be somewhere between a cozy mystery and a hard driving detective story.

[John R. Goyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll up this to 4 stars for the sheer grand opera approach to the lead character and the various background stories of other characters. A bit over the top, but sympathetic and a good enjoyable murder mystery. Mr Drayco started as a piano prodigy with a Carnegie debut at 12, than had a tragic injury and ended up in the FBI where he was almost the director before quitting and becoming a PI. No one is ordinary in this book... The sheriff of the town is quite a good character as is Scott, and I'm planning on trying at least another of this series.

[Creagh Steins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truth is I barely started before I stopped. (rare for me- spent $ so usually plow along) Was one of those books that tried waaaay too hard. Everything was overly detailed & poetic. It may be a great story. It got great reviews & sounded like a book / series I would enjoy; but when every single thing, down to a crack in the sidewalk, is deeply explored w/ prose - It's distracting. Didn't make it for enough to know if I would like it or not.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a former client gives Scott Drayco an Opera House in Cape Unity, he arranges to meet his next client there. Unfortunately he finds him dead with a letter G carved unto his body. Quite a few people have a motive, and is there any connection to Konstantina Klucze, a polish pianist who played at the House, or to the other murders which occur.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book but not my style.

[ShanDizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

languorous mystery but riveting. Though it was interesting that Scott has synesthesia.

[Carolyn Injoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Played to Death, A Scott Drayco Mystery by BV Lawson is an intriguing, page-turning book. It's a Shamus Award Finalist and Named Best Mystery in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. I gave it five stars.

Drayco was driving his vintage Oldsmobile Starfire near Chesapeake Bay. The scenery was not to his liking. He arrived at the Opera House he had inherited. He wanted to have a quick turnover sale. He's a crime consultant and considering retirement. He finds a dead body on stage and becomes a suspect in the murder.

He has chromesthesia, "a type of sunesthesia where people hear sounds as colors, shapes, and textures."

"He was accustomed to death, to corpses, to depravity. Drayco and his colleagues lived those nightmares by day, so others didn't have to dream them at night."

The wife of the man whose body Drayco found is described like this: "There was something noble about Nanette. A dignity formed through years of wondering where her husband was, or with whom, and learning to hold her head up regardless. An innate strength, a will to persevere, no matter how brambled the journey."

The Sheriff mentioned a victim had no enemies. "Drayco had yet to meet a person without enemies. Maybe not the murderous kind, but the type to take one word or one oversight, no matter how small and sharpen it into a blade of ill will."
Drayco was talking to Yeagle about a case. "'I’m not here on a witch hunt, Earl. I only want the truth.'

Yeagle snorted. 'Whose truth? Tends to vary, depending upon your point of view, doesn't it? Truth is worse than a moving target because it changes shapes.' Yeagle pointed toward the door. 'I think you should leave now.'"

Drayco was talking to Deputy Nelia Tyler whose husband has multiple sclerosis. "Being a primary caregiver was a soul-sucking task. The physical and emotional demands chipped away at your sanity as slowly as melting ice on a glacier."

Darcie Spier is interacting with Drayco and says: "'Why, I think you're jealous. That's why you're asking me these questions.'

"'I call jealousy the dandelion emotion. Innocent looking, until it morphs from sunny yellow to a gossamer skeleton. And impossible to stop from destroying your yard once it spreads.'" I thought that was an excellent description of jealousy.

I received a complimentary copy from the author and Barnes & Noble. That did not change my opinion for this review

Link to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

[Moushine Zahr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel I've read from author B.V.Lawson. I've read a free ebook version of this title.
The book follows the story of crime investigator from big city Washington D.C., Scott Drayco, going to meet a client at a small coastal old city only to find him dead in an Opera House. The crime investigator must first unravel the various and numerous hidden secrets of the many well established families of this small city with a History before being able to find out the real murderer and the motive.

The leading character is well developed and created. Scott Drayco resembles professionnally to many crime investigators in most crime novels except that he used to be a child genius artist before turning to law enforcement. Furthermore, he just came out of a case with dramatic consequences.

The secondary characters are also well developed, typical of small cities with some of their own specification. They're all related to each other one way or another, personally and/or professionally, in the past and/or in the present and future.

Finding the murderer and the motive is like finding a needle in a haystack as there are many potentials suspects and motives. Furthermore, present crimes are also related to a cold case.

Well written novel and looking forward reading more from the author B.V. Lawson.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a freebie on BookBub, which is a good way to look into authors I don't know and test out the first book of a series. Pretty good murder mystery in that it wasn't clear until the very end who the murderer was (I hate being able to guess too early). The protagonist, Scott Drayco, is gifted an abandoned Victorian-era opera house in Cape Unity, a small town on the Eastern Shore in Virginia. A potential client asks to meet him there, and when Drayco shows up to see his new property and meet the client, he finds the client gruesomely murdered on the stage. After he meets with the widow, she is also murdered. Drayco is one of those too-good-to-be-true-so-you-know-it's-fiction kind of PIs, being young, handsome, 6'4", with a Ph.D. in criminology, former FBI, and having been a child prodigy pianist who played Carnegie Hall. Uh huh.

[Heather Doughty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great first series book! There is plenty of room to grow the character, learn more about him, and see how he evolves in his career as Private Eye. He is definitely a richly complex person.

The whodunnit part of this story was quiet and not overly violent. It didn't involve large scale explosions and car chases. I really appreciated that. It had the appropriate level of "sturm und drang," small town charm, and interesting side characters. I really enjoyed the relationship between Scott and the Sheriff.

What really kept me reading was the writing. It flows with great phrasing. Word choices are vast and descriptive. I could really picture everything that was on the page.

Can't wait to read Book 2!